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Edward Gierek
Sign in to savePolish politician (1913-2001)
Key facts
- Preceded by
- Władysław Gomułka
- Succeeded by
- Stanisław Kania
- Born
- ( 1913-01-06 ) 6 January 1913, Porąbka , Congress Poland , Russian Empire
- Died
- 29 July 2001 (2001-07-29) (aged 88), Cieszyn , Poland
- Party
- Polish United Workers' Party (1948–1981)
- Spouse
- Stanisława Jędrusik (1918–2007)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Edward
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Poland
- Place of birth
- Sosnowiec
- Place of death
- Cieszyn
- Child
- Adam Gierek
- Occupation
- miner
- Political party
- Polish Workers' Party
- Languages spoken
- Flemish Dutch
- Religion
- atheism
- Field of work
- politics
- Conflict
- World War II
- Image
- Edward Gierek - portrait from 1976.jpg
Show 10 more facts
- Commons category
- Edward Gierek
- date of birth
- 1913-01-06
- date of death
- 2001-07-29
- Commons gallery
- Edward Gierek
- name in native language
- Edward Gierek
- medical condition
- anthracosis
- cause of death
- lung cancer
- member of
- Union of Polish Patriots
- described at URL
- bs.sejm.gov.pl/F?func=find-acc&acc_sequence=000009879&find_code=SYS&local_base=ARS10
- manner of death
- natural causes
via Wikidata · CC0
~22 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Edward Gierek ( Polish pronunciation: [ˈɛdvart ˈɡʲɛrɛk]; 6 January 1913 – 29 July 2001) was a Polish communist politician who served as the de facto leader of the Polish People's Republic between 1970 and 1980. Gierek replaced Władysław Gomułka as the First Secretary of the ruling Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR).
Gierek came from a coal mining family and grew up in France from a young age, becoming active in the French communist movement and the Polish community in France. Gierek was deported to the Second Polish Republic for his communist advocacy in 1934 but moved to Belgium and was active in the Belgian Resistance during World War II. Gierek returned to Poland in 1948 and attended in the founding of the PZPR as a representative of Silesia, being appointed to the Sejm in 1952, the Central Committee of the PZPR under Bolesław Bierut in 1956, and the Politburo of the PZPR in 1959. Gierek was known for his openness and public speaking, emerging as one of the most respected and progressive politicians in Poland, whilst becoming a strong opponent to Gomułka.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Edward Gierek” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.